The 2019 UB Volleyball schedule has been released and it features two home non-conference tournaments, sandwiched around two long trips out west on back-to-back weekends. Then the MAC schedule begins, 16 matches, including two against each MAC East opponent and one match against each team in the MAC West. The season (most likely) will conclude at the MAC tournament at Bowling Green University (should the Bulls qualify by finishing in the top 8 in the MAC — they were the #4 seed last year). In the unprecedented event that UB wins the MAC Tournament, Buffalo would then compete in the NCAA tournament.
New UB head coach Scott Smith and his team will face SEC opponent Alabama to open the season on August 30 at Alumni Arena as part of the UB Invitational Tournament. Alabama is one of two major conference opponents on the schedule this year; the Crimson Tide went 7–11 in the SEC, and 20–12 overall. Marist (14–15, 11–7) and Colgate (14–15, 9–7) are the other teams in this tournament. The Bulls defeated Colgate 3–2 last year in an exhibition match.
The next two weekends, the Bulls head way out west. The first week they will play at Wyoming, facing the host team, plus Northern Colorado and the College of Charleston. And the next week they head to Fargo, North Dakota to face the host team North Dakota State, plus California (the second major conference team on the schedule) and Green Bay. UB defeated North Dakota State last year at Alumni Arena 3–1. (Repeating some trivia I mentioned last year, Fargo, North Dakota is named after William G. Fargo, who was a co-founder of the companies Wells Fargo and American Express, and was also the 27th mayor of Buffalo, NY. Fargo Avenue in Buffalo and Fargo Quad on the UB Campus are named after him as well.)
The Bulls return home to Alumni Arena for the Blue and White Classic Tournament, beginning on September 20 against St. Francis (PA) (5–22, 4–10) and Cornell (13–10, 9–5). They face Canisius (17–12, 14–4) the next day. Buffalo lost to Cornell in five sets last year, a match they could have easily won, leading 9–5 in the fifth set.
The MAC schedule begins with a Thursday night contest at Alumni Arena against Akron on September 26. The remaining MAC home games will be on either Friday or Saturday nights. In October, the Bulls will have a rare four-game MAC homestand. All home MAC games begin at 6pm. The MAC Tournament begins on November 21.
